The proposed scrapping of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in last night’s federal budget will be a backward step for Australia’s growing renewable energy industry.
It will also be a backwards step for Australian companies that have been driving innovation in the solar industry, and attracting foreign investment, talent and resources.
ARENA was established with bipartisan support to fund research and development in renewable energy and abolishing the agency will increase our reliance on expensive and depleted resources such as oil and gas.
THE GOOD NEWS is that the solar rebate is still in place… for now.
The solar rebate is under review, and public submissions to the review panel close this week. The panel will then make their recommendations to government, which will most likely be to abolish or reduce the STC solar rebate.
Read the Solaray Submission here.
When rebates change, solar prices sky rocket as installers are able to charge more for their service, and solar companies are able to charge more to fill a limited number of installation spots before the rebate deadline.
The current STC rebates on solar systems are:
3kW System: $2,232
4kW System: $2,952
5kW System: $3,708
7kW System: $5,220
10kW System: $7,452
Once the rebate finishes solar systems will increase by the above amounts.
If you are thinking about installing a solar system for your home or business, or you know of someone who is, please act quickly.
Solar may not be this cheap for many years.
Any advancement in technology or a drop in the cost of panels would be negated by the significant price rise if the rebates were to change.
Once you have a signed order form in place and paid your deposit- you have locked in the government rebate.
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